Oil

[Belsnickel]

(03-08-2022, 08:47 PM)masonbengals fan Wrote: I guess you are supporting the right people then.

The right people for this past election, absolutely. For this and many other reasons.

(03-08-2022, 09:02 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: But at what cost? Yes, it may be cheaper, but if you have to lay in bed with thugs and evildoers, is it worth it? Isn't that a back door around our own regulations we enforce? If we demand our domestic partners produce oil under a strict set of environmental guidelines, why would we purchase from foreign producers who shun environmental concerns? Doesn't make sense to me. Add in the atrocities against humanity of countries we are willing to buy oil from and I say our government sucks. Cheaper oil should not qualify as a reason to throw your ethics out the window.

I would like to see us invest in renewable energy more. However, we need to work on oil prices for us right now. Renewable energy is a longer term solution and, quite frankly, if the savings we gain from getting our oil cheaper could be put towards those long term solutions then I am all for it. I may seem like an ideologue a lot of the time with my lofty ideals, but I am a pragmatist. I see the world for what it is with all the nuances involved.

As for the whole idea of "evildoers," you must mistake me for someone that thinks the US is some beacon of virtuosity. I'm going to tell you my opinion on this current situation and you're going to think I am nuts, but here goes. Putin's justification for invading Ukraine is far better than our justification was for invading Iraq the second time. It's better than pretty much every conflict we've been involved in since WWII save Afghanistan, and that's cutting it close.

I don't agree with his invasion, and I don't agree with conflicts we've been involved in. We get involved militarily thanks to a neo-imperialistic mindset and a push from the military industrial complex that corresponds with our desire to chase a never ending cycle of economic growth for the sake of economic growth. Meanwhile, that growth does nothing but further separate the socioeconomic classes by widening the wealth and income inequality in our nation making the American Dream more and more unachievable. And God help us if we actually talk about how the wealth of our five richest people could end hunger and homelessness in our country, let alone the idea that we spend more on our military than the next 20 nations combined.

You know that whole "are we the baddies?" meme? When you really take a hard look at the way America behaves in an objective way, you have to ask yourself that question. And don't get me wrong, I love my country and the ideas it was founded upon. I just want us to be doing better.

(03-08-2022, 11:13 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Idk what it was they taught me in elementary school. But I have been of the opinion keeping our stuff in the ground and using up everybody else's resources first meant a great deal to national security. And to this day that still makes sense to me. Non-renewable resources are finite, humans like to fight over them, why deplete the treasure pile I'm sitting on? If I had more certainty the human race could make the move to another planet and live happily ever after I would gladly blow through our reserves. But I'm not there yet, seems like we will keep killing each other on this rock

This is also very true and I left it out of my response because you posted this. Good on ya.